It will be appreciated that may hospitals, nursing homes and other institutions require continual washing and cleaning of textile products used by patients. That is why the healthcare industry, whenever possible, uses synthetic fiber materials. It is well known that synthetic fiber materials or fabrics are wrinkle resistant, require little or no ironing, last considerably longer than natural fabric products, are hypo-allergenic, are odor and mildew resistant, are bacterial and fungal resistant, have soil release characteristics and meet government specification for flame resistance.
One area of considerable interest in the healthcare industry involves bed covers and blankets for patients' beds. The use of a separate bed cover or spread and blanket for each patient bed not only is costly with respect to initial purchase, but requires separate handling and cleaning. Unlike hotels, motels and homes, a separate multi-colored bed cover or spread is not required in hospitals, nursing homes and other public institutions. At the same time, a blanket, which can also be used as a bed cover, should also be ornamental, and must meet all of the other needs required for textiles used in the healthcare industry. Where fabrics have multiple uses, such as a combined blanket and bed cover, there are other potential multiple uses of such fabrics for products such as a patient lap robe, for example, as disclosed in my copending patent application REVERSIBLE LAP ROBE Ser. No. 199,159 filed on May 26, 1984. Thus, there is considerable potential for a synthetic fiber healthcare fabric having multiple uses, as will be described herein.